Talking Points: What matters to you, matters to us

Talking Points is a way for you to meet and have a conversation about the range of voluntary, statutory and well-being services available throughout Denbighshire.

Staff will take on a holistic approach to your health and well-being to promote and enable you to access and participate in activities, groups and services which will reflect your individual well-being outcomes. This may include opportunities to help develop skills and increase social networks within the local community.

Talking Points provide a community well-being hub, focusing on the provisions of information, advice and assistance. You will be informed of a full range of health, social care and voluntary services available locally, depending upon your identified outcomes.

You can drop in to any Talking Point, or you may prefer to arrange an appointment by contacting Single Point of Access on 0300 456 1000.

The sessions are held weekly (unless otherwise stated) at:

• St Asaph Library (Monday 9.30am - 11.45am)
• Rhyl Library (Tuesday 9.30am - 3.30pm)
• Llangollen Health Centre (Tuesday 9.30am - 12.30pm)
• Corwen Library (1st Tuesday of the month 2.00pm - 4.00pm)
• Denbigh Library (Wednesday 2.00pm - 4.30pm)
• Rhuddlan Library (Thursday 2.00pm - 4.30pm)
• Prestatyn Library (Friday 9.30am - 1.00pm)
• Ruthin Library (Friday 9.30am - 1.00pm)

For more information please contact Jason Haycocks the Talking Points & Social Prescribing Coordinator on 01824 712937 or via e-mail jason.haycocks@denbighshire.gov.uk

Apply for Pass Plus Cymru

Plus Plus Cymru gives extra training for young drivers to help reduce the risk of accidents. 

The course costs £20 and to join you must:

• be aged 17 to 25
• hold a full driving licence
• have passed your test within the last 12 months
• live in Wales

The next training session for Denbighshire is on Thursday 10 October at Rhyl Fire Station, Coast Road, Rhyl LL18 3PL.  5.30pm - 8.00pm.

Visit Pass Plus Cymru for more information.

Free driving assessments for older drivers

Do you live in Denbighshire and are aged 65 and over?

You are entitled to have a free initial driving assessment conducted by the Wales Mobility and Driving Assessment Service.

If you are interested to find out more, phone the Road Safety Department on 01824 706946.

Council supports Citizens Advice latest initiative

The council works closely with Citizens Advice Denbighshire to support the well-being of local residents and is pleased to lend its support its latest initiative.

Citizens Advice in partnership with GambleAware is expanding services in Wales to prevent gambling-related harm and get people the support and advice they need.

The Citizens Advice Gambling Support Service in Wales will be delivered by Citizens Advice Denbighshire in the north and mid-Wales region.

These services are two of the 12 regional offices across Wales and England funded by a£1.5 million, two-year partnership with GambleAware. The regional offices work in partnership with the National Gambling Treatment Service to provide support to clients.

In Wales the National Gambling Treatment Service provider is the Addiction Recovery Agency (ARA) which has seen recent additional investment from GambleAware to expand treatment services in Wales.

A dedicated project worker based at the two local Citizens Advice will teach frontline staff to identify anyone at risk of gambling-related harm and how to help them.

Routine screening will take place in both local Citizens Advice to identify clients at risk and provide advice and give valuable insight into who is more vulnerable to gambling harm and the problems it causes.

Specialist treatment services will be provided by ARA for Denbighshire residents as part of the expansion of treatment services in Wales. Citizens Advice research found that more than three-in-four gamblers - and two-in-five people affected by a gambler - had built up debt.

More than one third of families with children interviewed could not afford essential household costs such as food as a result of a family member’s gambling.

And two-in-three gamblers Citizens Advice interviewed by Citizens Advice reported mental distress as an impact of their gambling. 

Healthy and Happy in North Wales

Community Workers from the Healthy Homes Healthy People (HHHP) project are working across North Wales to improve health and wellbeing by creating homes which are safe, sound, warm and secure for all.

Working with partners including; local authorities, Wales & West Utilities and Dwr Cymru, the HHHP team, led by Project Manager Joanna Seymour, offer a wide range of help to residents struggling to heat their homes, pay energy bills or are living in unsafe conditions. The HHHP project is run by Warm Wales, a Community Interest Company based in Port Talbot.

Working through home visits the HHHP Community Workers look at four key areas:

1. Home and Personal Safety
2. Income Maximisation and Personal/Family Support
3. Affordable Warmth
4. Health and Wellbeing

The outcomes from these home visits can make a huge difference to people’s lives; the project has already seen residents helped with benefit checks, tariff savings on water and energy bills, safety improvements and even new central heating systems. In total the project has already achieved savings of £500,000.

One resident helped by HHHP was a pensioner, Mrs W, who was living alone on a state pension with no savings. She had recently suffered a stroke and was living with no heating or hot water due to a broken boiler. A Community Worker visited Mrs W and provided her with energy saving and CO safety advice, added her to the Priority Service Register, helped her claim pension credit, organised a new boiler installation worth £3,500, and referred her for a level access shower.

If you think you could benefit from a Healthy Homes Healthy People visit you can get in touch with the team by calling 01352 711751 or emailing information@warmwales.org.uk. You can also visit the website at www.warmwales.org.uk.

To access the scheme, you will need to own or rent your home, be experiencing health issues caused by the property, and/or be struggling to pay the bills or heat your home.

Transport to Health

Dear Colleague

Transport to Health

Many of the older people my team and I have spoken with across Wales have shared with us their experiences about travelling to and from health care services and appointments.

In addition to sharing their positive experiences, many have highlighted the challenges they sometimes face when travelling to and from health services – particularly when health and transport services do not appear to be working together to support access.

I am therefore undertaking research that is exploring the experiences of older people and will highlight areas in which improvements are needed and identify good practice that could be more widely adopted. I have recently conducted a number of focus groups, and launched a survey which is available in paper copy as well as online.

I anticipate that this research will be a valuable contribution to the upcoming Improving Public Transport Bill and the ongoing work in developing an integrated, responsive transport model for Wales.

I would greatly value your input into this research, the perspective of your organisation, and any good practice that you’re aware of regarding the challenges faced by older people.

If you, or an appropriate representative within your organisation would like to contribute to this work, either through a meeting, phone call or by submitting written information then please contact my Community Services and Inclusion Lead George Jones at george.jones@olderpoeplewales.com.  

Finally, should you wish to publicise the survey amongst your networks this would be greatly appreciated and I can provide paper copies upon request.

The survey is open until 27 September 2019.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Kind regards,

Heléna Herklots CBE

Older People’s Commissioner for Wales